Full duty exemption for flood relief goods: customs and excise duties waived subject to certification and procedures.
Full duty exemption applies to goods imported for donation and to goods donated or purchased out of cash donations for Bihar flood relief: imports are exempt from basic customs duty and additional duty (with automatic exemption from countervailing duty), and relief goods are exempt from basic excise duty. Exemptions are subject to certification and procedural requirements and are effective immediately until 28 February 2009 under Notifications 101/2008 Customs and 48/2008 Central Excise dated 2 September 2008.

Tariff values for edible oils, brass scrap and poppy seeds set for import valuation and customs assessment.
Notification No.104/2008-Customs (N.T.) fixes tariff values per metric tonne for listed imported goods-various edible oils, brass scrap (all grades) and poppy seeds-for use in customs valuation. The table identifies goods by tariff headings and supplies US dollar per metric tonne figures; several edible oil entries are noted as unchanged.

SSI exemption extended to branded packing materials, allowing small-scale units to use third-party trade names.
The amendment permits SSI units to avail the central excise exemption for goods bearing another person's brand or trade name only when those goods are packing materials-such as printed cartons, metal containers, HDPE woven sacks, adhesive tapes, stickers, PP caps, crown corks and metal labels-and is available subject to turnover limits for the remainder of the financial year while existing SSI turnover eligibility rules remain applicable.

Service tax on hire purchase: tax point is service provision, not later collections, so rate change doesn't apply retroactively.
The dispute concerned whether an enhanced service tax rate applies to receipts collected after a rate increase under hire purchase agreements entered earlier. The tribunal applied the administrative principle in the CBEC circular that the Time of Taxation is the provision of the service, not later receipts, and therefore declined to apply the higher rate to collections attributable to services provided before the increase.

Effect of administrative circulars: statutory notifications prevail, preventing circulars from imposing or restricting exemption conditions.
The primary issue is whether an administrative circular can alter or restrict a statutory notification; earlier rulings enforced board circulars as binding departmental interpretation, but later decisions and tribunal practice hold that a circular cannot take away from or whittle down a statutorily issued notification, so where a circular directly conflicts with a notification the notification governs and administrative circulars cannot impose new conditions or limit the notification's scope.

Revenue collection growth: provisional Customs, Excise and Service Tax receipts reported with comparative prior-year increases.
Provisional monthly and year-to-date receipts for Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax are reported with corresponding prior-year comparisons and percentage growth rates; Customs shows lower monthly collections but positive year-to-date growth, Excise shows reduced monthly collections with modest year-to-date increase, and Service Tax displays significant monthly and year-to-date growth. The release is factual and excludes cess not administered by the Department of Revenue.

Tariff value notification updates import valuation benchmarks for edible oils, brass scrap and poppy seeds affecting customs assessment.
Notification No.101/2008-Customs (N.T.) dated August 14, 2008 fixes tariff values in US$ per metric tonne for import valuation of specified edible oils, brass scrap (all grades) and poppy seeds. The schedule notes that several edible oil entries remain unchanged and sets distinct tariff benchmarks for brass scrap and poppy seeds to be used by customs for assessment at import clearance.

Import-export code change: IEC cancelled on EOU-to-DTA conversion and fresh IEC issued against same PAN.
Where a 100% EOU with an IEC granted by the Development Commissioner converts into a DTA unit, the existing IEC shall be cancelled and archived; a fresh IEC will be issued to the same PAN by the concerned Registering Authority, and subsequent modifications to the new IEC shall be carried out by that Registering Authority.

Duty free tariff preference applies to imports from Cambodia and Tanzania under origin determination rules.
Goods imported from the Kingdom of Cambodia and the United Republic of Tanzania are eligible for a concessional rate of duty through a Duty Free Tariff Preference for Least Developed Countries. The Central Government issued a notification granting partial exemption from basic customs duties on such imports and separately notified Rules titled Customs Tariff (Determination of Origin of Products under the Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme for Least Developed Countries), which set the origin criteria and procedural framework for qualification.

Direct dispatch of shipping documents: banks may regularize exporters' direct shipments subject to prescribed conditions for repatriation.
The Reserve Bank has liberalised export documentation by permitting concerned banks to regularize direct dispatch of shipping documents from exporters to consignees for qualifying shipments, subject to specified conditions to safeguard realisation and repatriation of export proceeds; this extends prior limited exceptions (including SEZ units and advance payment or regular-customer cases) and operates under the Foreign Exchange Management export regulations and the RBI master circular on exports.

Central Excise Duty exemption for goods in ultra mega power projects following tariff-based competitive bidding and conditions.
Central Excise Duty exemption applies to goods procured for Ultra Mega Power Projects using super critical coal thermal technology where power procurement is tied to tariff-based competitive bidding; coverage is limited to projects under the Government of India initiative meeting an installed-capacity threshold, subject to prescribed conditions and effective from Notification No.46/2008-CE dated 14 August 2008.

Classification of transport services: CBEC circular treats composite road transport as GTA, affecting CENVAT credit availability.
CBEC Circular No. 104/07/2008-ST classifies composite road transport services, including packing and time sensitive deliveries under consignment note, as Transport of Goods by Road (GTA) irrespective of billing. This classification may conflict with the statutory priority for specific services such as courier and cargo handling when a service could fall within multiple categories; the Board's circular is binding on revenue officers, producing distributional effects on CENVAT credit availability and prompting potential legal challenges by credit eligible recipients.

Foreign Direct Investment approvals announced, with multiple sectoral approvals, several deferrals and two rejections following regulatory review.
The Finance Minister approved 24 FDI proposals across multiple sectors following FIPB recommendations, authorising subsidiary formations, equity acquisitions, joint ventures, downstream investments via conversions to operating cum holding companies, issuance of partly paid shares and convertible warrants, and ex post facto regularisations. Several approvals invoke Press Note 1 of 2005. Eleven proposals were deferred for further scrutiny, and two proposals were rejected, one for an early repatriation share transfer and one for raising foreign equity in telecommunication services. The notice differentiates approvals involving fresh equity inflows from those restructuring existing foreign participation.

Refund limitation for additional customs duty now requires claims within one year after payment where VAT was paid.
Amendment by Notification No.93/2008 prescribes a one-year limitation for filing refund applications for additional duty of customs where the importer-cum-trader has paid sales tax/VAT on resale; Notification No.102/2007 allowed such refunds without a deadline, and Circular No.6/2008 sets the procedural framework for processing these refunds.

Foreign currency account permission expanded; advance remittance rules for rough diamond imports widened; EEFC interest facility withdrawn.
Foreign companies with Project Offices in India may open an additional foreign currency account to manage currency exposure. Advance remittances for rough diamond imports from specified mining companies are permitted without limits and without bank guarantee or standby letter of credit, with two more companies added to the eligible list. The facility allowing exporters to earn interest on EEFC accounts has been withdrawn effective 1 November 2008.

Tariff values set for edible oils, brass scrap and poppy seeds, establishing customs import valuation benchmarks.
Notification No.99/2008-Customs (N.T.) fixes tariff values in US dollars per metric tonne for specified import goods. It lists chapter headings and descriptions-including crude palm oil, palmolein variants, RBD palm oil, crude soybean oil, brass scrap (all grades) and poppy seeds-and provides the corresponding tariff value for each item, with several edible oil entries noted as showing no change, thereby establishing administrative valuation benchmarks for customs assessment.

SEZ approvals advance for IT, biotech, manufacturing and aviation projects across multiple states, including multi product and warehousing zones.
Board of Approval recommended grant of formal and in principle approvals for establishment of Special Economic Zones across multiple states and sectors, including IT/ITES, Electronic Hardware, Biotechnology, Textiles, Light Engineering and Non conventional Energy. The Board also recommended conversion of certain in principle approvals to formal approvals and granted a formal approval for a large multi product SEZ in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, to be developed by a joint venture company.

Foreign Direct Investment approvals: conversions and equity issuances permitted; several proposals deferred and one rejected.
Approved proposals authorize issuance of equity shares and convertible warrants, induction of foreign equity in joint ventures, acquisition of additional equity including compulsorily convertible preference shares, and conversion of operating companies into operating cum holding companies to permit downstream investment; certain approvals attract Press Note 1 of 2005 or involve ex post facto approval for warrant allotment, while eight proposals were deferred and one was rejected.

Indirect tax collection shows year-on-year growth, reporting provisional Customs, Excise and Service Tax increases and exclusions.
Provisional indirect tax collection data for mid 2008 summarises monthly and year to date receipts for Customs, Central Excise (exclusive of cess not administered by the Department of Revenue) and Service Tax, presenting comparative figures for the corresponding prior year periods and percentage growth rates for each head and the aggregate.

Raw cotton exemption removes customs duty and withdraws drawback benefit, changing import-export duty treatment for affected traders.
Full exemption of raw cotton from customs duties was instituted by amending the exemption schedule, removing basic and additional customs duty applicability to raw cotton and making it duty-free on import. Concurrently, the export drawback benefit for raw cotton was withdrawn by amending the schedules that determine drawback rates, eliminating the prior drawback entitlement on exports of raw cotton.